"Property Cleanup Revolving Fund"; establish.
HB 733 creates the Property Cleanup Revolving Fund in the State Treasury and directs the Mississippi Home Corporation to administer a grant program that helps municipalities clean up tax-delinquent properties that have been certified to the state. Eligible cleanup work includes mowing and debris removal, filling cisterns, securing or demolishing abandoned structures, and draining standing water. The program begins after July 1, 2025, and grants may cover up to 100% of estimated project costs, subject to a maximum grant amount set by the corporation and a limit of 15 grants per municipality per calendar year.
The bill also gives municipalities authority to apply for grants and enter into agreements needed to carry out cleanup projects. For municipalities with populations over 145,000, the bill specifically identifies the Urban Renewal Authority and Parking Authority, under Jackson Redevelopment Authority oversight, as eligible applicants for site demolition and preparation work tied to urban renewal. Those projects must be coordinated through the JRA, and grants for those projects are capped at $2,000 per project.
In addition to creating the new grant fund, HB 733 amends existing law governing the Land Records Maintenance Fund. It authorizes the Secretary of State, with legislative appropriation, to use those funds to contract with vendors to maintain unredeemed lands and lands sold for taxes that have been certified to the state. It also changes the fund’s end-of-year treatment so that unused money does not lapse into the General Fund, but instead remains available in the Land Records Maintenance Fund for future maintenance work.
The bill further revises tax-sale and land-maintenance provisions in Sections 29-1-95 and 29-1-145 to support ongoing upkeep of tax-delinquent properties and to clarify how related funds may be spent. It also makes a conforming amendment to Section 27-104-205 so the Land Records Maintenance Fund remains excluded from the general rule that certain agency revenues are deposited into the State General Fund. The act takes effect July 1, 2025.
The overall sentiment around HB 733 appears strongly favorable and largely noncontroversial. It passed the House 120-0, the Senate 51-0, the House conference report 119-0, and the Senate conference report 45-1, indicating broad bipartisan support for the cleanup and blight-removal framework. The main policy emphasis in the discussions reflected in the bill text is on municipal flexibility, urban renewal, and preventing abandoned tax-sale properties from becoming long-term nuisances.
The most notable points of contention are structural rather than partisan: the bill concentrates special authority on larger municipalities, especially Jackson-area entities, and it creates a new revolving fund and grant administration structure that depends on appropriations and agency rules. Another potential issue is the use of public funds for cleanup of private property that has been sold for taxes but remains unsold or certified to the state, though the bill frames this as a public-purpose blight abatement and land-management measure.
HB 733 creates a new state fund and grant program that expands municipal access to state support for cleaning up tax-delinquent and abandoned properties, while also changing how Mississippi handles maintenance of lands sold for taxes. It amends Sections 29-1-145, 29-1-95, and 27-104-205 to authorize use of the Land Records Maintenance Fund for vendor contracts and to prevent unused balances from lapsing into the General Fund, thereby preserving those dollars for land maintenance purposes. The bill primarily affects municipalities, the Mississippi Home Corporation, the Secretary of State, and local redevelopment authorities, especially in larger cities.
The bill’s reception was overwhelmingly positive. It cleared both chambers with near-unanimous votes and no recorded committee opposition in the materials provided. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement that the state should provide a dedicated funding mechanism for property cleanup, blight removal, and maintenance of tax-sale lands, with particular interest in supporting municipal redevelopment efforts.
There is little evidence of major opposition in the available record, but the bill does raise a few policy questions. One is whether it is appropriate to direct state resources toward cleanup of tax-delinquent properties and to channel those funds through a new revolving fund administered by the Mississippi Home Corporation. Another is the bill’s special treatment of municipalities over 145,000 population and the Jackson Redevelopment Authority oversight structure, which could be viewed as favoring one city’s redevelopment needs over others. Finally, the bill’s use of the Land Records Maintenance Fund and its decision to keep unspent balances from lapsing may invite scrutiny over fund balance management and legislative control of dedicated revenues.